Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-09-04
CHAPTER ".

| When / came 70 nv senses IL Was oi
course the next morning. and vss lying
IN my own bedroom, whittier / bad been
carried BY two strange me3, the landlady
afterwaTd told me, who said they were paid
for the Job. had q splitting headache.
/ was sick and giddy; nv limbs trembled
beneath me when tried 70 stand; my
hands shook. looked at myself in the
glass Swollen features and bloodshot eye
greeted me.
! Less than q week hsi wrought this ruin.
The ordinary drunkzri refreshes himself
in the morning with tea Nothing refreshed
me. because could taste nothing, and BE-
cause nv suferings sprang from different
source, though they were the same IN kind.
| / had TO bear them a. best / might
] / remembered the command which Mr..
l-Mr.-strange, ! had forgotten his name
sgain-gaye me, TO walk twenty miles
after heavy night / started 10 obey
him
Outside London, beyond Isiington,
where there are row rows % houses, but
were then fields, SAW a little modest cot
tage, standing alone In it, garden. 1t was
a cottage With four rooms only. covered
over With creepers- On the board standing
az the gate was the announcement that II
was to let A thought struck me. Here
I could be seclusiOp. at any rate. Here /
could shut myself no every night, and
await in comparative safety the dreadful
punishmsnt-iast becoming heavier than /
could bear-which nv tOrmeDtOr inflicted
upon me- Why should I not take the cot
tage, pay the rent in advance every month
for bow many months should ! have to
pay it>-aDd so wait IL patience and re-
sigration the appTOach Of my inevitable
I fate.
/ made inquiries az once, and secured
the place at a merely nominal rent. Then
! I moved in a httle furniture, Bought second
! hand in IsliDgton High street, and became
! the occupant, lonely hermit, Of the house.
There we're no houses within hear
ing, in case | should storm and rage
! in nv drunken madness at night The
/ cottage stood removed from the road, aud
no callers were likely TO trouble me.
| Within those walsh should be secure from
some dangers az least. Here. night after
night. could await the attacks Of surfeit
and in:oxicatiOn which regularly came; for
| my master knew no pity.
! On the first evening sat down at half
past TO prepare for what was coming.
! Tne day was drawing IL. and a cold twl-
J iight--the month vas March-coyered the
\ trees and shrubs in my little garden, as
opened the door and looked Out.
Before me stood the negro.
Ny spirit was quite broken, and could
only gruan-
do you want ne 10 90 with you sgain:'
! asked, thInkingof the last entertainment
81 which provided amusement for his
master.
"Massa say him berry glad you come
bysr. You walk the twenty mile ebbery
day. else massa know the reason why.
How you feel, Massa Lucraft: Heigh'
heigh, cluck. Dat most fortunate day for
you when You sign dat little paper"
He delivered his message and disappeared
IL the darkness. heard his footsteps
crOunching the gravel in the road, and
lODged, only now had no courage or spirit
left, 10 seize him and tear him limb from
limb.
Then l shut myself in, lit one candle
and sat over the fire. / thought OF che
scenes BY which my extrayagant fancy
had been excred; the garden full OF lively
girls-what were girls 10 me nov? The
country walks was 10 have with Juliet
where was my passion for Juliet now
i The case and Happiness, the lightness and
innocence OF the life before me, drawn by
an arch deceiyer, compared with my pres
ent, my actual misery, sitting alone, cut
OF from mankind, 1.-THE slave and victim OF
a secret prOhigate and glutton, doomed to
die slowly, unless it should please the
murderer to kill me OF quickly.
And then, because the rstsymptoms OF
the attack were coming on, / went TO bed
and stayed there.
So began my new life. wretehed life
it was. There was no occupation possible
for memo amusement. i walked every
day, in fair weather or foul, a measured
twenty miles.
This in some degree restored vitality to
my system. never read; l took no in
terest in any politics. / cat by myself and
brOOded.
As for meals, bought them ready pre-
pared. They consisted almost wholly Of
bread and cold mutton. You may judge
OF the absolutely tasteleSs condition tC
which l was reduced when write calmly
and truthfully that cold boiled mutton
was as agreeable to me as any other form
Of food. found, after repeated trials,
that mutton forms the best fuel--it is bet.
ter than either beef or portland keeps the
human engine a; work for the longest time,
So had mutton Az discovered also
that bulk was necessary, and that only a
certain amount of animal food was wanted,
| used to have cold potatoes always ready,
| stocked twice day. az IL in the morning
and about in the afternoon. Thus forti'
lied, ] got through the miserable hours a.
best could.
look back on that period as one OF un
mitigatsd misery and despair. was daily
growing more bloated, fatter, and habbiel
in the cheeks Ny hands trembled IN the
morning. / seemed losing the power o.
connected thought. My very lips were
thickeDing. a-
the effect Of the bargain on myself meal
without reference TO the srfferings inflicted
on me by my tyrant People, however
never can know, unless they happen to bt
like myself, which is unlikely, how great &
. part eating and drinking take in the con
duct Oflife. Between the rest of the world
and me there was a great gulf fixed. They
: could enjoy, could not; they could cele
. brate every joyful event With something
additional TO eat; they could make httl,
festival of every day; they could give t.
; happiness an outward and tangible form
Alas, not only was declared from this
: bat was cut of even from joy itself; for
if you look at it steadily, you viii find thai
most of human joy or suffering is connected
with the senses / had bartered away q
good half Of mine, and the rest seemed in
! mourning for the loss of their fellows A.
: for my pale and eolorless life, il was a;
monotonous as the clock. If neglected
; TO stoke, the usual feebleness would fol
, low. There was no gracious looking for
: ward to pleasant dinner; no trembling
anticipations in hope and fear Of wha'
might be preparing; no cheerful contem
, plation Of she joint while the carver sharp
: ems his knife; no discussions Of faver and
: richness; no modestly hazarded conclusion:
7 as to more currants; no rolling of the wine